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Cash for care (CFC) benefits are paid to parents whose young children are not in public childcare. In Finland, these benefits are widely used, yet they are surrounded by continuous debate as they are argued to contradict other policy aims of gender equality and high maternal employment.

In this study, we analyze whether CFC use is associated with separation risk in the long run. We use high-quality Finnish register data during 1987-2009, which allow measuring union dissolution at monthly precision and regardless of marital status. Using event history methods we analyze whether (1) families that use CFC face lower separation risks than those that do not, and (2) whether this effect varies by the length of CFC use. Results suggest that families using cash-for-care have a significant lower risk of separation while using the allowance. The longer cash-for-care is utilized the longer the immediate stabilizing effect is in place. However, no independent effect of the CFC length can be shown after using the allowance. Next steps are extending the analysis to account for selection and anticipation effects.

Cash-for-care; home care allowance; policy; union dissolution;